The Internet has become the world's market place. Merchants are increasingly selling products and services via various online commerce facilities such as merchant web sites, online auctions, etc. On merchant web sites, products are typically sold using the “shopping cart” model that allows a customer to select an item from an electronic catalog and then metaphorically adds the selected item to a shopping cart. When the customer is done selecting items, the customer requests that the items in the shopping cart be “checked out”. At this point, a payment transaction is initiated, and the purchaser is asked to provide billing information such as a credit card number and other confidential information. Typically, merchants use customized shopping cart applications for providing a shopping cart flow and an independent online payment service (e.g., PayPal®) for handling payment transactions.
A large number of merchants offer their products via various online marketplaces, which often support a number of price-setting mechanisms (e.g., auctions). Different auction management tools (AMTs) have been developed to assist sellers in managing their items posted on various online auctions. AMTs usually send notifications to winning bidders. A winning bidder can then access the checkout flow using a link in the winning bidder notification and proceed with the payment. Typically, AMTs allow their users to make payments via an independent online payment service (e.g., PayPal®) that is trusted by the users for its secure, fast and easy-to-use operation.